Who decides on who gets an upgrade?

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Who decides on who will get offered an upgrade? With so many different countries booking the same cruise ( uk. USA. Italy) how do they decide which people get the upgrade.
And if you book through a ta is it them that ring or the cruise operator?

I may be wrong, but it does seem from what I've picked up here that your chances of getting a call from the upgrade fairy are significantly increased if you live in the US. However it could just be that those from other countries haven't reported them.

In the Breakaway transatlantic, where there were quite a lot of free upgrades, a very unscientific survey seemed to suggest that the better ones went to those who hadn't used NCL regularly with high latitudes members or those who have other bookings missing out.

That's why its called the upgrade fairy. It's magic! My opinion is that upgrades/sells are first offered to those that are in cabin categories that are easy to sell and just 1 offer that is accepted can trigger many other offers. Example: I'm in a aft balcony which is a coveted category for many. I'm offered an upsell to a penthouse suite which I take. Someone with a regular balcony cabin is offered an upsell to my aft, someone in an ocean view is offered the balcony and so on. This is just my opinion. We were in an aft wrap cabin on CCL and offered an upsell to a suite which we passed on. They wanted too much money and have no real suite perks so it wasn't worth it to us.

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Originally posted by KeithJenner
I may be wrong, but it does seem from what I've picked up here that your chances of getting a call from the upgrade fairy are significantly increased if you live in the US. However it could just be that those from other countries haven't reported them.

I agree, it seems no-one from the UK or Europe ever reports that they have been offered an opportunity to upgrade. Maybe one day my phone will ring and I will be offered the chance to try the suite life. For now I will stick to two or three cruises per year rather than just taking one.

Originally posted by KirkNC
Kind of like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain makes all the decisions.

"LIKE" Button Activated. Also, I have heard that the Upsell Fairy looks at the reservation numbers and the older the reservation number is, the better chance of getting the call. Another reason it pays to book over a year out.

Originally posted by KeithJenner
I may be wrong, but it does seem from what I've picked up here that your chances of getting a call from the upgrade fairy are significantly increased if you live in the US. However it could just be that those from other countries haven't reported them.

In the Breakaway transatlantic, where there were quite a lot of free upgrades, a very unscientific survey seemed to suggest that the better ones went to those who hadn't used NCL regularly with high latitudes members or those who have other bookings missing out.

All very unscientific though with very small samples.

Not true! We live in Canada and have 3 calls and two of them we turned down.

A lot of it has to do with what is available close to sail, both # and type, that determines what categories are going to be offered then they determine who is eligible. I don't know what criteria they use from there.